EAST BREMERTON — The North Kitsap fastpitch team racked up many accomplishments last season, but missed out on an important one — a win over league-rival Olympic.
The Vikings took care of that on Wednesday, breaking out the bats to tally 16 hits, including three home runs, and getting a strong pitching performance from their ace to improve to 5-2 on the season and 3-0 in the Olympic League in a 13-3 win.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said senior catcher Lamara Villiard. “We picked up right where we left off last year, nothing is slowing us down now.”
It was Samantha Burgh who shined the brightest of all of North Kitsap’s offensive stars. The sophomore outfielder went 4 for 4, clubbing two doubles and a monster opposite-field three-run homer.
All three Viking long balls came with runners on base, accounting for seven runs. Mackenzie Wagner hit a two-run shot to dead center in the third inning and Iyreland Lawson went yard in the sixth with a runner on.
“That was incredible,” Villiard said.
The floodgates opened in the third with the team down 1-0. Genevieve Keller hit a one-out double and was brought home on a Burgh single. After Villiard reached on an error, which allowed Burgh to score, Wagner blasted a laser over the center field fence to give North Kitsap a 4-1 lead.
They added five more in the fourth, which included Burgh’s three-run homer and an RBI-triple by Lawson, who went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs.
Wagner’s two-RBI double extended the lead to 11-3 in the top of the sixth and Lawson’s two-run bomb to center put the Vikings at the ten-run threshold. Wagner finished the day 2 for 3 with four RBI.
Senior right-hander Sarah Smith then shut the door in the sixth to end the game an inning early. Smith turned in another solid performance, yielding six hits, one walk and two earned runs while striking out seven in six innings.
The win over the Trojans is an important first step towards contending for a league crown this year. The Vikings will likely head into Spring Break tied for first place with Port Angeles, which had one more game Thursday. They meet the Roughriders out on the Olympic Peninsula on Friday, April 12, and will also have to play Sequim before going through their league foes for a second time.
“It’ll be great competition, great games, but if we keep our heads up and keep fighting, we’re going to be great,” Burgh said.
North Kitsap 13, Olympic 3
NK 0 0 4 5 0 4 — 13 16 1
Oly 1 0 0 1 1 0 — 3 6 1
WP: Smith LP: Kroesser
Pitching
North Kitsap — Smith 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, BB, 7 K.
Olympic — Kroesser 6 IP, 16 H, 13 R, 9 ER, BB, 6 K.
Hitting
North Kitsap — Burgh 4-4, 2 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 3 R; Wagner 2-3, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, BB, 3 R; Lawson 3-4, 3B, HR, 3 RBI, R; Keller 2-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R; Smith 3-4.
Olympic — Chipley 1-2, RBI, BB, R; Turnquist 1-3, RBI; Ivie 1-3, R; Richmond 2-3, 2B, R; Kroesser 1-3.
Mark Krulish is a reporter for Kitsap News Group. He can be reached at mkrulish@soundpublishing.com. Follow him on Twitter @MKrulishKDN.
